Let's Go in the Garden
by fullmetalfrost
Summary: Some say lullaby's warm the heart, reminding individuals of days long gone past. Adrien would agree, but that doesn't mean it will make the clenching in his heart go away. Or the one time Adrien dreams of the lullaby his mother sung to him as a child and what follows suit.


Based on this video: watch?v=oirv-GnCuQo

Twitters of robins and blue jays filtered through the air, tweeting and chirping, melodically flowing until they made their way to a young boy nestled deeply in the embrace of a woman. The boy, Adrien, with golden disheveled hair and a band aid on his face from what could only be an afternoon worth's of mischief and play was lying against the woman, quiet and serene. The women was stroking his hair softly, speaking words of days long gone past; her voice like bells ringing through the silence.

"And then he said 'fine.' And that's the story of how I met your dad."

Adrien, whose olive eyes opened to regard his mother, shifted anxiously.

"Can I play now?" He had asked. His mother gave him a small smile, speaking in quiet tones sweet like honey.

"Sweetie… its naptime." Adrien shifted his body so he faced his mother, looking to the side embarrassingly.

"But I don't want to sleep. My dreams are weird." He argued.

His mother smiled at his embarrassment, "All dreams are weird."

Adrien looked up, a bit more distressed, "But mom, my dreams are weeeeiiiiiird." dragging out the 'weird' to emphasize his point. His mother chuckled, sweet and melodic, as she looked down at Adrien lovingly.

"Honey, something weird might just be something familiar viewed from a different angle and that's not scary, right?" Bringing her hand down to touch his face, Adrien nuzzled into the contact. Sitting against the tree she leaned back and opened her mouth, singing, and soon Adrien joined.

 _Let's go in the garden. You'll find something waiting_

A brooch and a ladybug.

 _Right there where you left it, lying upside down_

 _When you finally find it, you'll see how it's faded_

A large hand grabbing for the brooch and a ladybug flittering away.

 _The underside is lighter, when you turn it around._

The hand brings the brooch up to face the sky.

 _Everything stays…_

Adrien hears the soft thudding of footsteps, turning around seeing his father holding the brooch out to him, smiling. Everything was perfect.

 **Beep beep beep beep**

Adrien Agreste woke up to his alarm beeping rhythmically and a moistness in his eyes. Lips open breathlessly he looks up at the ceiling, eyes unblinking. A ghost of a whisper crosses his lips, small, quiet and broken.

"Mom…"

 **~Line break~**

It's a slow march to school, with his head held down finding the pavement very interesting all of a sudden. Adrien didn't want to be driven to school. He didn't want the quiet emptiness of the car ride so he decided that today was a day to walk. As he walked, afterimages of his dream flashed through his mind. He remembered his father's smiling face; a rare occurrence as of late; the tune of his favourite lullaby as a child, his…mother's voice.

God did he miss hearing her voice.

He couldn't quite remember her face, it being a distant memory ever since her disappearance but he could remember her voice and even that much made him feel the swell of heat behind his eyes. Shaking his head he cleared his thoughts, he refused to cry now; he's had years to get that out of his system. He was stronger now, he doesn't show weakness; not to anyone, even himself.

The shadow of his school crossed his vision and he looked up to the towering building. Sighing, he let one last shaky breath out of his system before quickly masking his deep frown and darkened mood with the perfect golden boy façade he was so used to faking. If he had anything to thank his father for it was his aptitude for putting on convincing appearances gained from years of modeling.

Maybe his father should try it out sometime too, maybe then he could at least pretend to be a loving father.

With that Adrien walked through the doors of his school, ready for anything they threw at him.

 **~Line break~**

Adrien was not ready for this. Of course…Of course! There _had_ to be an akuma attack. He would curse his bad luck if wasn't the only thing keeping him alive right now. He frantically dodged another sound wave coming from the music box that victim was carrying. Grunting, he flipped backwards landing on all fours mere inches away from where Ladybug was desperately swinging her yoyo trying to deflect the nearby rubble that exploded around them.

"They all thought I was weird for carrying around my precious music boxes! Now it's your time to face the music Ladybug and Chat Noir!" The akumatized girl cackled. One pointed jab at the girl and her tendency to carry around copious amounts of music boxes and boom, new victim for Hawkmoth. He'd roll his eyes at the frivolousness of the reason behind this akumatization but he was too busy keeping them trailed on the giant sonic waves that were being released from the tiny music box grenades she was whipping at them.

"My Lady! Any ideas where the akuma is because contrary to popular belief this cat only has 1 life!" He yelled over the sound of "Mary Had a Little Lamb" connecting with the pavement where he had just stood.

"I'm working on it Chat! I'm pretty sure it's in her bracelet but I need an opening in order to grab it!" She dodged another music box, "Rock-a-Bye-Baby" screeching to a halt when it slammed straight into the ventilation system behind Ladybug.

Chat nodded and bowed down.

"Say no more my Lady, I have it covered." He raised his hand and readied his stance.

"CATACLYSM!" He yelled and the ancient power of destruction and bad luck rushed to his right hand, consuming it with dark spots, shifting and ebbing. He rushed forward and touched the giant music box on her side, effectively disintegrating it into nothing more than dust.

"NO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! THAT WAS MY FAVOURITE ONE!" The akumatized girl shrieked, getting down on all fours to try and collect the remained dust of her cherished object. Quicker than she could process, Ladybug closed in and grabbed the arm with the bracelet and ripped it off. She took it in both her hands and tore it apart causing the infected butterfly to fly out. Purifying it with her usual flare and then using Miraculous Cure, she looked towards the akuma victim who was recovering from the initial confusion of the after purification. She held out her hand for Chat to bump and he did, although she could tell it was with a little less energy than usual.

The girl looked up at both of them and then at her music boxes which were all fully intact thanks to Ladybugs powers. She picked it up and walked over to the superhero duo.

"Thank you so much for saving me, I-I don't know what came over me. It was silly for me to be taken over by something so small. I'd like to give you something- As a small token of my gratitude." She held out the small music box and gestured for them to take it. Chat gently took it out of her hands and held it carefully, as if it would break with a single touch.

"It's my favourite music box; it holds the loveliest of lullaby's. I wanted you to have it so please enjoy." She smiled and then ran off, probably to her worried loved ones.

Chat held the music box lightly and looked towards Ladybug. She gave him a smile that lit up the world and gave his stomach butterflies of his own.

"Why don't you open it, Chat? I think you deserve the honours today; you did a great job."

"Why thank you, my Lady, I think you did purr-fectly too." He grinned. Ladybug rolled her eyes and groaned.

"Don't push your luck, ally cat; I will push you off this building."

"Aww, and I though you loved my puns; I think they're a-mew-sing." Ladybug put her hand on her forehead rubbing circles into them, pushing back the beginnings of a headache.

"Please for the love of all that is merciful just open the music box already." She pleaded. Chat gave her a catty grin and bowed, one hand on his chest the other behind him splayed out in a gentleman-like gesture.

"As you wish, my Lady." He carefully lifted up the wooden top of the music box, minding his claw-like nails and waited for the music to start.

It did, but while the song had just started his heart stopped.

This song was… so familiar. It flowed around him with tunes that reminded him of days when his father smiled. It reminded him of days when he could still remember his mother's face. Most of all, it reminded him of her voice; that melodic, harmonious, ringing voice of hers that he hasn't heard in years. He wasn't sure if it was the weight of the hand on his shoulder, the calling of his alter-egos name, or the sudden stop of the music box that brought him out of his memories and back to the real world.

Whatever it was, he hated it.

How dare anyone or anything bring him back from such wondrous memories and back to a reality where he was never free, puppeted by his so-called father who never smiles like he did when his mother was still around; if he ever smiles at all. He slowly turned his head and his wet emerald eyes met with concerned blue.

Wait… Wet?

He sluggishly lifted his leader-clad hand to his cheeks and pulled back to look at them.

When had he started crying?

He stared in a mix of confusion and surprise when he suddenly felt the hand that was still currently placed on his shoulder tighten its hold.

Ladybug gazed at Chat with concern. Why had he suddenly started crying? She had never seen him cry before and this was a whole new territory for her. But one look at the tears that were flowing slowly out of Chat's eyes were enough to throw her ineptitude out the window and do the only thing she could think of doing.

She hugged Chat; tightly and securely, practically crushed him in her embrace.

"I don't know what's wrong but you really looked like you needed a hug." She said.

Chat wasn't really sure how to respond, his mind processing the hug at a snails pace. Slowly he raised his arms and wrapped them around the ladybug printed girl. His embrace was just as bone crushing as her as his claws dug into her back while sobs racked his body. The painful memories of his mother and all that he's lost rushing back to him in an instant, leaving only a scared child who misses is mother.

Ladybug wasn't sure just how much he needed this hug, so she didn't pull away, instead lowering them both to the ground and laying Chat's head on her shoulder while he let out all the feelings pent up inside of him.

Eventually his sobs subsided and he lifted his head and shifted away from her, looking anywhere but in her direction. Ladybug looked at him, distressed concern written across her face.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked carefully. The last thing she wanted to do was trigger anything that would cause another break down. She would have to play it cool, no matter how much she was breaking inside seeing Chat like this. She just wanted to pull him into another hug and keep him there for all eternity. She never wanted to see him like this.

Chat looked down at the ground, picking at the cobbled ground of the rooftop.

"I'm not sure you want to hear it, my Lady; it's nothing worth your time. You should go home, my Miraculous is going to start beeping soon and I know how much you want to keep our secret identities to ourselves." He sounded dejected; she hated how he sounded.

"You're always worth my time, Chat; don't forget that. Now, I think you have something that you want to get off your chest so please Chat, tell me what's wrong." She pleaded.

With a sigh, he looked up and in Ladybugs direction. She could see the moistness of his eyes and she could tell they were most likely puffy and red were it not for the mask covering them. He opened his mouth to speak, pouring his heart and soul into every word.

"When I was young, my mother would sit with me under a large oak tree and she would sing to me. Her voice… I can still remember her voice… it was so smooth, carried by the wind like ringing bells. Whenever I had dreams that I didn't understand she would always tell me, 'something weird might just be something familiar viewed from a different angle and that's not scary right?' Looking back on it now, I don't think I fully understood her meaning but now I do and I… I don't know… I just really miss her. She used to sing me this song as a lullaby and…and I…and I think it's just the memory of it that I couldn't handle. Ladybug… I really miss hearing her voice."

He laid out his soul for her, waiting for the inevitable rejection, the disgust, the pain but he never received any of it. Instead what he received was another hug, this one not as tight as the first but lacking nothing of the raw emotion behind the first.

Looking up, Ladybug gazed into his eyes and he gazed back.

"Chat, would y- could you sing it for me?"

Chat was taken aback by the request. He hadn't sung this song in years; not since his mother…disappeared.

"My Lady…"

"Please, Chat."

He paused.

"…As my Lady wishes."

Chat opened his mouth ad began to sing. It was just as beautiful as Ladybug expected.

 _Let's go in the garden, you'll find something waiting_

 _Right there where you left it, lying upside down_

 _When you finally find it, you'll see how it's faded_

 _The underside is lighter, when you turn it around_

 _Everything stays_

 _Right where you left it_

 _Everything stays_

 _But it still changes_

 _Ever so slightly, daily and nightly_

 _In little ways_

 _When everything stays_

Chat closed his mouth and looked towards Ladybug. She had nodded off somewhere in the middle of the song and was now soundly sleeping. He smiled at her, before leaning against her and resting his head on her shoulder. He felt his eyes begin to droop closed as he let himself succumb to sleep as well, the faint beeping of his ring a distant sound.

Somewhere far away, the faint humming of a familiar lullaby could be heard from a woman sitting under a very large oak tree.


End file.
